Crystal Cove is an oasis in time capturing a unique part of California's beach history and culture.  Where most of Southern California's beaches are fully developed, Crystal Cove remains virtually unchanged since 1920.

As California's population climbs and human pressure impacts our coastal environment, the Crystal Cove Historic District offers a perspective on beaches as recreation, beaches as a place for family, beaches as a place to live in balance with resources.  Crystal Cove Alliance’s educational programs demand serious treatment of art, science, environment, and human relationship with nature.

Our programs are serious and professional, however we would be missing the point if we overlooked the lighthearted and fun part of Crystal Cove's history, the part where people used the beach as a place to escape the increasing complexity of urban life, a place where visual artists bloomed and people celebrated sunsets as a community.                   

Click here to register for current CCA educational programs

Click on any of CCA’s Education Programs below for more information

 

Education Commons

Rotating Exhibition Programs

K-12  and Public Educational Programs

Park & Marine Research Facility (historic cottage #22)

 

PORTS (Parks Online Resources for Teachers and Students) Real-time Videoconferencing Program

Library and Archival Collections

 

Education Commons

Crystal Cove Alliance and Crystal Cove State Park are happy to welcome community members to the newly opened Education Commons. The restoration of the buildings is complete and we need YOUR help to bring the Education Commons to life! Come, enjoy reading, and playing board games in the Commons.

        

      

You are an important part of Crystal Cove’s community, and we hope to see you playing an exciting game of Yahtzee with your family or relaxing with a 1930s Agatha Christie book at the Education Commons this summer! 

 

Rotating Exhibition Program

The exhibitions are housed in historic cottage #46 and are offered free to the public.  New themes are explored every four months and include both interactive exhibits and a full suite of supporting educational programs.  

 

Currently on exhibit :


 "WEIRD ROCKS"

Opens January 7, 2011

The Weird Rocks exhibit in Cottage #46 will give Park visitors the opportunity to learn more about Crystal Cove’s geology.  A variety of geologic processes are responsible for the shoreline landscape at Crystal Cove.  The weird rocks on the beach may be overlooked by Park visitors, but they tell part of Crystal Cove’s geologic story.  Concretions, one of the most unusual rocks, can be used as an engaging way to increase Park visitors’ understanding of and appreciation for the geologic processes that formed Crystal Cove’s beach environment.

This experimental exhibition - Weird Rocks - will be used to gather information about how to effectively use exhibit panels to convey scientific information to the public.  This information will be used to develop a permanent geology exhibit at Crystal Cove State Park.  Crystal Cove Alliance is grateful for the work of Janice Hansen and Jennifer Long from the UCI Department of Education, who have helped with the exhibit design and will provide evaluation services.

Participate in the "Weird Rocks" scavenger hunt.  Pick up a guide at the Park Interpretive Store and follow the instructions to get a free gift!

Click below for printable brochures.

Beach Geology by Merton Hill (can be purchased at the Park Interpretive Store).

Beach Geology Brochure by Merton Hill  

K-12 and Public Educational Programs

Since 2009, CCA has introduced 13 new educational programs serving over 10,000 K-12 and public audiences including innovative courses such as:

High School Ocean Acidification Lab, Bioacoustics and Birds with Boys & Girls Clubs, Dolphin Citizen Science ‘Shoebox Science Kits’, The Great Plein Air Art Experience, Aunt Kate’s Juice and Art Club, and PORTS Tidepool Videoconferencing Program.ces in California! And, that's not all, as you go through the program, one activity at a time, you will earn some very cool rewards!


Click here the current Crystal Cove State Park Calendar of events.

 

The Park & Marine Research Facility (historic cottage #22)

In 2008, CCA raised over $750,000 to restore historic cottage #22 and turn it into The Park and Marine Research Facility (PMRF).  The PMRF supports scientific study that furthers understanding of Crystal Cove’s natural, cultural, and historical resources.  Scientists also agree to contribute to the emerging educational programs designed to involve K-12 and public audiences directly in research.   In just the first year of operation, the PMRF boasts over a 12 new partnerships with University of California, Irvine; Chapman University; Pepperdine University; California State University, Fullerton; Scripps Institution of Oceanography; Stanford University, and Orange Coast College.   Innovative educational programs launched in 2009 have include: a new High School Ocean Acidification Lab, a Dolphin Citizen Science Shoebox Science Kit that allows the public to log  observations of dolphin movements in the park; a Tidepool Research Walk invites the public to count intertidal invertebrates; a new Bioacoustics Lab Program  invites after-school underserved teens to help count endangered California Gnatcatchers, and a MicroSurfscience Lab Program allows visitors can explore the tiniest of organisms that live in the surfzone at Crystal Cove.

Click here
for a P&MRF downloadable brochure

 

PORTS (Parks Online Resources for Teachers and Students)Real-time Videoconferencing Program

Elementary school students from across California can now visit Crystal Cove's fragile tide pools and learn about the biology and ecology of the Park's ecosystem even if their school can't afford a field trip.

CCA supports an innovative State Parks distance-learning program called PORTS (Parks Online Resources for Teachers and Students) that allows over 7,000 K-12 students each year to enjoy interactive lessons with park interpreters from the shore of Crystal Cove. Students can look at sea stars, hear the pounding surf, and get their questions answered on camera.

 

Library and Archival Collections

Crystal Cove Alliance maintains a collection of historic photographs and oral history tapes from Crystal Cove’s early residents.  Three collections exist: The Laura Davick Photo Collection; the Martha Potve Letters Collection at University of California, Irvine Library; and the Oral History Archive at California State University, Fullerton

 

 

 

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For as little as $50, you can become an official member of the Crystal Cove Alliance!  Enjoy benefits such as discounts at The Park Interpretive Store, invitations to special events, the CCA quarterly newsletter and more...

 

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